Households

Food Scraps

To reduce wasting food at home, we
suggest better meal planning. Use a shopping list, and prepare
only enough food to be eaten during a meal. Meal planning
benefits you by saving money and benefits the environment by
saving resources. For the scraps that are produced at home, set
up a compost bin to make compost by mixing food scraps and
greenwaste in your backyard.

In the kitchen, first things first. Here are a few
suggestions:

Meal portion planning is the best way to save money and
resources. Plan weekly meals and buy only what you can cook
before it spoils.

Rediscover the art of soup and
making soup
stock with wilted vegetables. Boiling animal bones makes a tasty stock
for soups and stews, but put the bones in the garbage after boiling.

Store leftovers in single portion containers so you can
use them for lunch the next day.

Store some things in the freezer. Properly frozen bread,
for example, can be used as needed throughout the week.
Bake it back to freshness as you need it.

Collect food prep scraps neatly, and then take them out
to the backyard bin before they get smelly. Collect
vegetable scraps, egg shells, paper towels, left-over rice,
pasta, or bread. Don't include oils, dairy, or meats.

There are plenty of functional under-sink containers; check
out the online resources list below or visit a local hardware
store.

Backyard Composting

The best way to compost food waste is to mix it with dry
leaves, sticks and twigs, wood chips, sawdust, dried/dead
plants, shredded newspaper, or paper from a home shredder, and
mixed yard waste.
Always cover fresh material with a layer of wood chips and a
dusting of dirt, or with unscreened, mature compost. A compost
pile in your backyard will have lots of
microbes taking up residence.
Keep in mind that the microbes
need oxygen, water, and food; the same things we need to
survive. If the pile gets too wet or dense with food scraps, it
will smell bad and composting will slow down or stop altogether.

Recipe for Backyard Composting

Ingredients

While a multitude of organisms, fungus and bacteria are involved
in the overall process, there are four basic ingredients for
composting: nitrogen, carbon, water, and air. The easiest
compost recipe calls for blending roughly equal parts of green
or wet material (which is high in nitrogen) and brown or dry
material (which is high in carbon). Simply layer or mix these
materials in a pile or enclosure; chop or shred large pieces to
12" or shorter. Water and fluff the compost to add air. Then
leave it to the microorganisms, which will break down the
material over time.

Nitrogen

Green materials such as grass clipping and landscape trimmings
are ideal sources of nitrogen for composting. Vegetable and
fruit trimmings and peels can also provide nitrogen for
composting. Coffee grounds and tea bags may look brown, but are
actually potent nitrogen sources. To reduce the potential for
pests or odors, avoid meat or dairy scraps and always bury food
scraps deep within the compost pile. Avoid pet feces due to
concerns about pathogens. However, manure from chickens,
turkeys, cows or horses is rich in nitrogen, and can help your
compost pile get to proper temperatures, and make very good
compost.

Carbon

Brown (dry) yard and garden material such as dry leaves, twigs,
hay, or shredded paper can provide the carbon balance for a compost pile. Chop or
shred large pieces to 12 inches or shorter (thick, woody branches
should be chipped, ground up, or left out). Untreated wood chips and
sawdust are a powerful carbon source which may be useful if the pile
contains excess nitrogen.

Water

One of the most common mistakes in composting is letting the pile
get too dry. Your compost pile should be moist as a wrung-out
sponge. A moisture content of 40 to 60 percent is preferable. To
test for adequate moisture, reach into your compost pile and grab a
handful of material and squeeze it; if a few drops of water come
out, it's probably got enough moisture, if it doesn't, add water.
When you water, it is best to put a hose into the pile so that you
aren't just wetting the top. You can also water as you are turning
the pile. During dry weather, you may have to add water regularly.
During wet weather, you may need to cover your pile. A properly
constructed compost pile will drain excess water and not become
soggy.

Air

The bacteria and fungus that are in your compost pile need oxygen
to live. If your pile is too dense or becomes too wet, the
air supply to the inside is cut off and the beneficial organisms
will die. Decomposition will slow and an offensive odor may arise. To
avoid this, turn and fluff the pile with a
pitchfork often, perhaps weekly. You can also turn the pile by just
re-piling it into a new pile. Wash hands after handling compost, or
use gloves.

Size

Ideally, the compost pile should be at least three feet wide by
three feet deep by three feet tall (one cubic yard). This size
provides enough food and insulation for the organisms to live.
However, piles can be larger or smaller and work just fine if managed well.

Composting Techniques

Composting can be done gourmet style, requiring more effort, with quick
results--or can be done more casually.

Gourmet compost piles that have the right blend of nitrogen (greens)
and carbon (browns) and are kept moist and fluffed regularly, will heat up
to temperatures of 120 to 140 degrees Fahrenheit. The high temperature will
kill most weed seeds and speed up the decomposition process so that the
compost may be ready in 2 to 3 months or less.

Casual compost piles are also quite workable since compost will
happen even if you just pile on yard and food waste, water sporadically, and
wait. Since these piles don't get too hot, often
worms will
migrate into these and they will breakdown material. Casual
composting can take several months.

If you are thinking about starting a compost pile in your backyard, you may want to familiarize yourself with the
microbes that live in your compost pile.

How to Tell When it's Finished Compost

Compost is finished when the original material has been
transformed into a uniform, dark brown, crumbly product with a
pleasant, earthy aroma. There may be a few chunks of woody material
left; these can be screened out and put back into a new pile.

You may want to stop adding to your compost pile after it gets to optimal
size (about 3 cubic feet) and start a new pile so that your first pile can finish
decomposing.

Give it a Try

Home composting is best learned by practicing.
Through practice and observation you will find what works best for your home
situation, and you can modify the process to suit your needs. For more
information about composting, check with your local community or
city for workshops, handouts,
or guides on composting.